In the NBA, the most rings are awarded to players who have won multiple championships. Bill Russell has the most NBA championship rings with nine. He also won two as a coach. In fact, he has more rings on his fingers than you can count. Bill Russell is considered a great basketball player who embodied the NBA’s “dream team” philosophy.
Bill Russell
Bill Russell is the all-time leader with 11 NBA championship rings. Though not an offensive superstar, he dominated the defensive end and led the Boston Celtics to 11 titles, two more than any other team. Bill Russell was also the most decorated player of all-time in the NBA, earning five MVP awards and twelve All-Star nods. Today, many consider Bill Russell the greatest player in NBA history. However, there are basketball purists who disagree.
NBA championship rings are a symbol of success and a testament to a player’s talents. Many NBA players have won multiple titles, cementing their legacy as one of the best in the world. While Lebron James is considered the best player of his generation, Bill Russell is still the most decorated player in NBA history. He has won 11 championships in his 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics.
Russell also won two more titles in 1968 and 1969. In addition to winning seven NBA championships, he also coached three other teams. His championship total is also the highest of any coach in the NBA.
Thomas Ernest Sanders
The most rings in the NBA are awarded to players who have won the most championships, and Sanders has accumulated eight of them. At the time of his NBA debut, Sanders was a first round pick by the Boston Celtics, having graduated from NYU. Though he was considered to be one of the best players in the NCAA, Sanders had not given much thought to a pro career. He was just starting to get settled into a promising job with a tape manufacturing company when he read in a newspaper that he had been selected by the Boston Celtics. In fact, Sanders had not given pro ball much thought at all until he read a few newspapers indicating that he was the first choice by the Celtics.
In the 1963 Finals, Sanders averaged 13.5 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. In the 1964 Finals, he averaged 11.2 points per game. The Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers in five games. Sanders had the most NBA rings, and his teammates averaged 25.2 points per game.
John Havlicek
Havlicek was a Celtics guard who won eight championships during his 16-year career. In fact, he won four of them in his first four seasons with the team. He was named to thirteen All-Star teams, including four First Team selections. He was also named to the All-Rookie First Team five times. Havlicek was named NBA Finals MVP in 1974 and 1977.
John Havlicek was a two-way player who could play guard and forward. His play in the Eastern Division Finals in 1965 against the Philadelphia 76ers is a basketball legend. In that game, Havlicek recorded a near triple-double. His 29 points, nine rebounds, and ten assists helped Boston win. Havlicek also excelled at shooting on the run.
Havlicek also played college ball with legendary coach Bobby Knight at Ohio State. The two earned the nickname Hondo. Havlicek has won eight championships in the NBA with the Boston Celtics. He also holds the record of being the first player to score 24 points in a playoff game.
Havlicek was born in Martins Ferry, Ohio, and was drafted by the Boston Celtics in the 1962 NBA Draft. His speed and agility earned him a spot on the All-Rookie Team. He was also a three-sport athlete at Bridgeport High School and became a good friend of Hall of Famer Phil Niekro.
Robert Horry
Robert Horry is one of the most decorated players in NBA history. He played in seven Finals, making 7 total appearances. He was known for his clutch performance and scoring ability. His average in the Finals was 9.7 points per game. Although he isn’t a Hall of Famer, he is a legendary player.
Horry played his collegiate basketball at the University of Alabama, where he set a school record for blocked shots. He was also named to the All-SEC team and SEC All-Academic Team. He was then drafted in the first round of the 1992 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets. Over the course of his career, he won seven NBA Championships with three different teams. He is one of only two players to win NBA titles with three different teams.
Horry’s first NBA championship was in 1994. His second title came in 2000, when he was with the Houston Rockets. The Rockets had been seeded sixth in the Western Conference and were considered a tough team. But Horry’s second NBA championship came against the Los Angeles Lakers, who would go on to win a three-peat. They took a 2-1 series lead in the NBA Finals and won it.
Rajon Rondo
Rajon Rondo won his first NBA title as a rookie with the Boston Celtics in 2008. Now, he has two championship rings after winning with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2010, and one with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2012. He is only the second player in NBA history to win a championship with two different teams.
Rondo is a Hall of Famer who has become one of the most productive players in the last decade. His versatility has made him a valuable player for many teams, but he is still arguably the best point guard of his draft class. His all-around game and all-star level play have led to numerous wins, and he has made four all-star appearances. He is sixth all-time in assists in the NBA playoffs.
During the 2008-09 season, Rondo led the Boston Celtics to a franchise-record 19-game winning streak. He was criticized for his poor shooting, but was able to make up for it by averaging a triple-double and a career-high in assists. His heroics were rewarded with a championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008.
Damian Jones
Damian Jones has two championship rings and two MVP awards with the Golden State Warriors. As a center, Jones was instrumental to the Warriors’ success in 2018-19. He started 22 games and averaged a career-high 17.5 points per game. After suffering a torn pectoral muscle in December, he missed the rest of the season but returned to play during the Western Conference Finals. In the NBA Finals, he scored two points and grabbed two rebounds in six minutes of action.
Damian Jones was selected by the GSW as the 30th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. He made his NBA debut with the Memphis Grizzlies in December 2016. He did not score a single point during his debut game. After his debut in the NBA, he appeared in various games before finally being drafted by the Warriors. During his first season with the Warriors, he scored a career-high 27 points in a 131-199 loss to the Utah Jazz.
Damian Jones has two championship rings with the Golden State Warriors and one with the Los Angeles Lakers. The other two are Rajon Rondo and Kawhi Leonard. Rondo won two NBA titles with the Boston Celtics and Kawhi Leonard won the NBA Finals MVP award with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014.